Building Apartments for Survivors of Domestic Violence

Kvennaathvarf Women’s Shelter is building 16 apartments which will provide temporary housing for women who are recovering from domestic violence, RÚV reports. The women will be able to live in the apartments for a maximum period of three years.

The shelter raised ISK 78 million (USD 777,000/EUR 626,000) last fall to build the apartments. “We have been working on changes to the layout of the building plot and are now beginning the design process of the building itself,” project manager Eygló Harðardóttir told RÚV. “We are talking about studio apartments all the way up to small family apartments. The model is in many respects similar to student housing. Women that come to the women’s shelter don’t bring much with them. We are looking to make sure that the rent is not more than 25 percent of the individuals’ income, or the women’s, when housing support has been taken into account. And of course here we’re talking about women who often have the lowest income in society.”